This wedding from Dear Wesleyann Photography is filled with my favorite detail of all – heart. Yes, it’s also swimming with sweet touches like cookies cooked by Mema, flowers whipped up by the mother of the Bride and stationery designed by the Bride herself – but above all the sweet, sentimental touches it’s the love that circles this family (old and new), that is truly the most special detail of all. See it all here.
From the Bride… Kyle and I both grew up in Tennessee and met each other during our college days at the University of Memphis where Kyle played baseball. We are beach kind of people; our first trip together was a week of sun on the sandy beaches of the Florida panhandle. I knew from the very beginning that I was going to marry this guy and dreamed of a destination wedding, and that is exactly what we did.
On the cold morning of February 24th 2012 Kyle begged me to go walk on the beach with him to see how the water felt. I was confused but went along with it. As I stood there cold and ready to head to our favorite breakfast spot (Hibiscus), Kyle grabbed me and started saying the something with the words “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” The next thing I knew he was down on one knee and I said YES! We immediately went to the beautiful town of Rosemary and started planning our dream wedding! We both knew we wanted to be married at the beach, but not ON the beach. The Town Hall at Rosemary was perfect for us! We wanted a small intimate wedding with our closest friends and family celebrating with us.
One week before the big day we drove down to Rosemary with SUV’s full of “Katie and Kyle” wedding gear. The days leading up were spent relaxing on the beautiful white sand beaches and finalizing some last minute details with vendors. Wednesday before the wedding we had a casual welcome party for our guests were they received there handmade welcome bags full of wedding gear, official corn hole game rules, snacks and local Rosemary finds. My Pepa Gale and dad were grilling up some delicious burgers as everyone lounged around the grounds.
We had a wonderful rehearsal that Thursday at the Town Hall where our amazing friend Sherene Katzman ran the show. She was there to make sure all we planned went off without a hitch. We then went over to Café Thirty A for a wonderful dinner and a walk down memory lane. The party continued on to Kyle’s carriage house and ended the night packing for the honeymoon that Kyle had planned for us. He kept everything a secret until we got to the airport!
The morning of our big day was perfect. The weather was amazing and I was surrounded with my wonderful sisters and best friends. We got ready together at the house in Rosemary. We sipped on mimosas while doing hair and makeup and counting down the minutes. My bridesmaids all wore different dresses that they choose from J Crew and the groomsmen wore khaki suits from Joseph A Banks. We wanted a very natural and neutral color scheme and the attire was perfect. The bridesmaids wore pumps from BCBG and handmade earrings from Pamela Mills of Lil Happy’s. My jewelry was made by Catherine Butler, who I found on Etsy after hours and hours of searching for the perfect “Something New.” I absolutely loved it! Bagdley Mischka shoes were my wedding day saviors and the sash, handmade by mother, completed my look for the most special day of my life. The broach I wore in my hair was my Great Aunt’s. When we were little, my sisters and I always loved playing dress up with her beautiful jewelry and this brooch was my “Something Old.” My beautiful rose gold eternity band that Kyle picked out for me was not ready in time for the wedding so our jeweler sent him one with a loaner band which ended up being my “Something Borrowed,” and it worked out nicely because somehow I managed to forget my “Something Borrowed.” Things just have a way of working out!
Our officiant was my brother-in-law, Jake. He and my sister, Kinsey, have such a wonderful example of a Godly marriage — we look to them for guidance, always. He sent us questions that were kept secret until the ceremony. It was so special; we laughed, we cried, we were inspired by the love that was all around us! Kyle and I both want Christ to be the center of our marriage. Using branches from trees in my parents’ backyard, a special branch cross was made to represent just that. My parents and I had a nice afternoon making this one of a kind piece for our ceremony.
Townsend Catering is simply the best and they made everything happen. We worked together over several months to come up with a custom menu for our special day and it was perfect. They incorporated all of our favorite things and helped me surprise Kyle with his all time favorite, wings! He was so surprised and loved it. They cover every detail and made sure our guests were always taken care of. The staff was so friendly and helpful I felt like they were family.
Live Music for the reception was a must, and after much research the decision was made to hire EMERGE! That was one of the best decisions! I love to dance (Kyle, not so much), but much to my shock Kyle was out there getting’ down. It was one of the best memories of our wedding. Vernon and his team made sure that everyone (and I mean everyone) was on their feet and moving to the music. Rosemary heard a new sound that night and according to guests and venders, this is a sound that needs to be around more!
Details are everything to me and our wedding was full of them. We were all about DIY! Here is the scoop on all the little things that made our day so special and one of a kind…
-My talented Mema Faye was the artist behind the wonderful Rosemary Beach Town Hall sketch. The original was framed and used at the wedding. Prints were made and given to guests in their welcome bags.
-My Mema Joy baked 750 sugar cookies that were used as favors for guests as they left the wedding. We stuffed the boxes with cookies and then put in burlap totes for a quick grab on the way out.
-The bouquets and boutonnieres were designed and created by my mother. I love succulents and wanted them used throughout the wedding so my mother and I started purchasing and growing many varieties to be used on the special day. Rosemary, seed pods, Texas sage, roses, hydrangeas, eucalyptus, wild baby’s breath, dusty miller and variegated greenery were partnered with the succulents to bring just the right combinations. The succulents were all saved and continue to be reminders of the special day throughout our home.
-Our precious seven weeks new nephew was our Ring Bearer. He needed a special little pillow to house Kyle’s ring and my Great Grandmother’s handkerchief was made for the job. Baby Gray had an important job and boy did he deliver!
-We used photos of us when we were little for the Men’s and Women’s signage. My photo was captured as I was attempting to create just the perfect makeup look! The one of Kyle was my favorite of him as a kid.
-Since flip flops are my shoe of choice, we placed flip flops in old wooden crates around the dance floor to make sure all the girls were ready to dance the night away in comfort.
-Hand-stamped hankies were handed out to our guests as they arrived at the ceremony. They were displayed at the front of the Town Hall in old suitcases with the hand-painted barn board sign “In Case of a Tear.”
-For our guest book, guests signed in on pages of a Rosemary Beach book that tells the history and unique facts about the wonderful town of Rosemary. We now use this special reminder as a coffee table book and look through it often to remember how truly special Rosemary is to us.
-Stationery: I love typography and design so I wanted to create all of our stationery and invitations myself. I designed everything on my handy-dandy Mac and had them printed at our local print shop in town. We used the same K+K logo for all things wedding and really love how everything turned out.
-Kyle and I are the proud parents of two droopy, slobbery basset hounds, Piper and Otis. I would have preferred that they were there with us, but since that wasn’t an option for us we had them with us in spirit. On my bouquet was a blue dog tag with their names engraved on one side and our wedding date on the other.
-Custom Corn Hole Boards were painted and created by myself, Brennon and Kamille. My mother made custom corn hole bags with our logo on them as well. She is something else! My family is truly amazing and helped make everything happen for us. We could not have done it without them.
-We had a special table just for us with “Mr. and Mrs.” signs made with old barn boards. Even though we spent very little time sitting it was so nice to have a place to sit as husband and wife and take it all in. It was all so perfect for us.
-My soon-to-be-brother-in-law, Brennon Martin helped us with our music selections. He’s extremely talented and my go-to-music man! He played the guitar as guests were seated and sang a solo during the ceremony. The song always brings tears to my eyes, “I Will Not Take My Love Away,” by Matt Wertz.
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Wedding Photography: Dear Wesleyann Photography | Wedding Venue: Rosemary Beach Town Hall | Catering: Townsend Catering | Cakes: Sugarlilly Sweet Shop, Santa Rosa Beach + Publix Bakery (Red Velvet) + Homemade Lemon Cake by Bride’s Mother | Floral Design: Bride + Bride’s Mother | Stationery: Bride | Wedding Dress: Pronovias | Shoes: Badgley Mischka | Sash: Handmade by the Bride’s Mother | Bride’s Jewelry: The Catherine Butler Collection |Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew | Bridesmaids’ Shoes: BCBG | Bridesmaids’ Jewelry: Lil Happies | Men’s Attire: Jos A. Banks |Band: Emerge